Propeller control system



June 24, 1958 1'. P. FARKAs PROPELLER CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Oct. 14, 1952 United States PatentjGthce '2,840,169 Patented Jurre 24, 4195'@ 2,840,169 PROPELLER .CGNTROL SYSTEM g Thomas P. Farkas, Bloornlield, Conn., assigner toV United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford,` Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application Qctober 14, 1952, Serial No. 314,593 20 Claims. (Cl. 170g-135.74)

This invention relates to a propeller control system and' particularly to a system in which propeller blades are positioned in accordance with the position `of a control lever.

An object of this invention is to simplify the propeller controls so that by movement of a single lever the pro peller pitch may be manually controlledin reverse pitch and governor controlled in forward pitch' and at thesame time the engine power may be controlled to facilitatethe Y thrust control of turbine. driven propellers.

to have a control which will in effect vary the thrust of the vengine `driven propeller. In turbine propellers fthe inertia of the rotatingl parts is so great thatspeed response is` comparatively slow, hence a control Whichwill vary the propeller pitch will provide a thrust control even when there may be little .change yin speed. This is particularly true of thereverse f pitchpositionofipropellers-and the lower positive pitch positions. VIn the highergp'ositive pitch positionsilthe propeller may Ibe governor controlled in the usualrrn'anner. Suchan.arr'angernent'will provide a control particularly rusefulior handling airplanes on``the ground oron the water ywhile permitting the-usualspeed control whilethe-airpla'ne is in flight.

Basically'the mechanism rof this application relates to a structure/which willdisa'ble the governorcontr'olr'at approximately 7 .positivepitch'and ywill schedulea specific relation between :blade pitch4 and a control lever fromV the 7 positivepitch position'through zero=to the'tull'reverse pitch position. During this Ventire range the'propel-ler pitch is iiXedin accordance with `selected positions of a control lever which in the structure yused for illustration l is a throttle lever, thusigivingl a-pitch'which variesinxed relation withtthrot'tl'e opening to provide an accuratecontrol of propeller thrust. Inthe structure-selected for illustrating the invention, .a propeller shown generally at 10 having a plurality of blades one of which is shown at 12 is driven by-an engine 14 which ispreferably a turbine. A hydraulic governor indicated generally at 16 is driven by gears 22, 24, `26 from the propeller -shaft 18 and directs fluid to one side or the other of piston 20 to control the pitch of the blades 12. This governor is provided with a decreasepitch Avalve 28 which'is electrically-controlled to direct uidfromthe main pump 30 tothe top of pilot valve '32. to force the pilot valve downwardlto direct fluidfrom pump 30 through channel 34 to valve'32 and thence through line 36 to the inboard side of-piston 20 to decrease the propellerpitch. The governor is also provided with-anincreasepitch valvef38 which can direct fluid from thepurnp 30 tothe undersideoffpilot valve-32,

Vthus forcing the pilot valve'upward to therebydirec't'iluid from pump 30 to channel v34, pilotvalve 32, channelz40 to the outboard side of piston 20 to increa'sethe propeller pitch. For further ldetails of this propeller and governor reference may be made to application Serial No. 84,305, led March 30, 1949,-by John E. Anderson for Hub Mounted Control no wPatent No. 2,653,668 'and Patent No. 2,477,868 issued August 2, 1949 -to GfW/Frina'n. This governor 'is Vprovided with'acontrol indicated 'igenerally at 42 by which the 'governor SpeederV spring may be set'in'the usual manner to select the speed atwhich the propeller will be governed. The governor is provided with a vfeathering pump shown generally at`44which may "be energized to supply pitch changing iluid when thevpiopeller is stationary. Th'isfluid may be directed by the 4decrease pitch valve andthe vincrease pitch valvein'the same Amanner as thefluid from pump 30 in order to change the propeller 'blade pitch. The `engine 14 is provided with Aa "fuelcontrol shown generally at 46 which is controlled by means 'of 'a coordinating lever 48. The fuel controler the connectionb'etween the coordinating control and the 'fuel control is such that movement of the coordinating control in a single `direction will reduce the fuel'llow to a minimum and then by movement Vin the vsame-direction increasethe Vfuel ilow. This type of controljmay be of any well known type such as mentioned in British Patent 642,957 published September 13, 1950 and shown in British Patent 631,000 accepted October-25, 1949. The controls are so arranged that the minimum fuel flow will occur at a low propeller-blade angle and will, increase from this minimum'ilow as the propeller.v reversed or as the propeller is moved from the -lowV position into a forward .pitch position. For one practicalinstallation lthe minimum fuel How occurred at plus'7". Y p

The .above-described mechanism will provide Va propeller an'd enginecornbination in which the engine vspeed is 'maintained substantially constant by the governor controlled propeller in positive pitch positions and the Afuel control. may be varied to increaseor decrease the engi-'ne power. p

In order to provide for control of the propeller pitch, as distinguished from control of the propeller speedpar ticularly in the lower pitch positionsand in reverse, Ava.

'control rheostat 50 is mounted -for movementwith theaco-V ordinating control and schematically shown'as mounted on the same shaft. Control rheostat 50 vmay -vary the voltage in line 52 connected to an amplifier and voltage :comparer shownY ,generally at 54. A blade rheostat shown lgenerally Vat 56 is connected with the propeller shaft 18 to =be driven thereby and thus positioned in accordance with the blade pitch. The blade rheostat controls the voltage in line 53 connected to amplifier and voltage comparer 54. As will be explained hereinafter, the voltages in lines 52 and 53 are compared'and the resulting voltage is utilized to eifect actuation ofthe lincrease and .decrease pitch valves of the governor 16 to thereby disable governor action and control'the propeller blade pitch so that it will correspond to the position of the coordinating control lever.

Also operatively connected lwith the coordinating control lever 48 are switches 60 and 62 which 'aresoconnected to 'the control rheostat and the coordinating lever 48 Vthatthe switches will remain open in allzpositionsof the coordinating control abovethe 7 blade angle an'd the corresponding throttle position which may be identitied as the operational idle position but'willbe closed lin all positions of the control lever from the 7fpo'sitionl to full reverse. When thisswitch 60 is open the connection between the powerv source 64 and the decrease pitch `of voltage vwhich is modified by the blade and control rheostats and then compared to give the control voltage which. is eventually utilized to position the propeller blade in accordance ,-with the control lever position. v

pPowe'r source 64 which may be the airplane electrical system ,of 28 volts or any other suitable ysourceof electricity isconnected to linev 66. The parallel-resistances R1 and-R3 `,with lines 52 and S8 in turn are connected to the amplifier and voltage comparer. The voltage in line S8 is varied by means of theblade rheostat 56 betweena substantial portion of the voltage of the sourceA 64 and `zero org-roundfvoltage as the blade rheostat is turned lwithV the propeller blades as they change pitch. .Y Line ,52 is`connected with control rheostat 50, the opposite end of whichis connected with ground through resistances Rb.

tore, the blade pitch may be selected simply by positioning the coordinating control lever 48 to which the control rheostat slider 68 is secured forrotation therewith. rFrom the description thusfar, it will be apparent that although the propeller is governor controlled to maintain a substantially constant speed when the coordinating control is above some selected position such as operation The slider `68 of rheostat 50 is` connected to line70 l l V'which may be grounded through switch 62 or switch 72. When either switch 62 or 72 is closed, the voltage in line 52 may be varied from a substantial portion of the voltage of l the` source 64 to substantially zero lo'r ground `voltage. If both switches 62 and 72 are open arm 68 is ungrounded and. the voltage drop is across the entire rheostat 50 and the resistance Rb,'which wil-l give a voltage inline 52 which is somewhat higher than the highest voltage obtainable by movement of the slider 68. This higher voltage'is Vutilizedfora purposewhich will be describedlater. Voltages occurring in lines 52 and 58 are led toanamplilier and'voltage comparer 54 of any standard and well known form. The output of the amplifier and voltage comparer is fed through lines 74 and 76 Y -V `to a relay'78. When the voltages in lines 52 and 58`are equal or when the voltage in line 52 is greater than the voltage'in line 58 then no signal is sent tothe relay 78 and the switch 80 remains in the positionshown in Fig. ll If,whowever, the voltage in vline 58 is greater than `the voltage in line 52 a signal is sent to relay 78 which will energize Vthe relay and actuate switch80 making a Iconnection Vto line 82.` It' at this time switch 60 is closed and safety switches 84 and 86 (or switch 96), to be described later, are alsoclosed a signal will be sent from power`source'64` to'liries `65, 88,.switches 86 and 84, line 90 or through line 98 and switch 96 to switch 80, line 32, switch 60 and line 92 to the decrease pitch `solenoid which actuates decrease pitch valve 28. This will disable the governortand start to decrease the propeller pitch. Decreasing the propeller pitch will move the blade rheostat 56 clock-wise as shown in Fig. l to thereby reduce thevoltage-in line 58 and tend to establish equilibrium between the voltages S2 and 58. When the equilibrium point is reached relay 78 is de-energized and switch 80 then connects `with line 94. If at this time switch 96, which lwill be described later, is closed or switches 84 and *86 are closed, ener-gy will be supplied from power source 64 to line 65 and line 98 and switch 961to switch V80 or from source 64 to line 65, line 88, switches 86 and 84, line 90 to switch 80 and thence to line 94 to energize the increase` pitch solenoid which actuates pitch increase valve 38 to again disable the governor and increase the propeller blade lpitch. The increase in the propeller blade `pitch will move blade rheostat in a counterclockwise directionfwhichwill again increase the voltage in line 58 and start thecycle all over again.` Hence whenever the `voltage in` line 58 differs frompthe voltage in line 52 and the necessary switches are closed, Vthe propeller blades w1ll cycle alternately increasing and decreasing their pitchaboutaselected point at which the voltages in 52 idle, when the coordinating control is below the operation idle position so as to close switches 60 and 62, then the governor is disabled and the propeller pitch is controlled solely by the position of the lever 48.

As-described above, lever 48 is connected with fuel control 46 schematically shown by the dotted line connection 100 connecting the lever 48 with the fuel control lever 102. This fuel control is arranged so that as the coordinating control lever is moved in one direction to Y reduce the throttle opening from full throttle toward an idle position, the control rheostat slider 68 will be moved in a counterclockwise direction. A detent is usually provided at the operational orground idle position of the coordinating control lever to prevent movement beyond that point without some additional action by the pilot. Movement of the coordinating control in the same direction beyond the detent will cause Aa further small closing of the throttle but further continued movement will cause the throttle to again open. It Iwill be noted that the movement of the coordinating control lever in the direction just described will move the slider arm 68 of control rheostat in `a direction to reduce the blade pitch y(i. e. less positive or more negative) after the switches 60 and 62 are closed. The blade pitch position and the coordinating control lever are so related that the continued movement of the lever in the direction just described will reduce the propeller pitch through zero into reverse pitch and will. continue to follow the position of the control lever to the full reverse pitch position.

In thisy application movement of the .blades from feathered position down through zero and to full rei verse pitch position is called pitch reduction whether it takes place in the positive pitch or the negative pitch range. It will thus be apparent that a pitch reduction in the positive pitch range means a less positive pitch while a'pitchreduction in the negative pitch range means a more negative pitch. The term increase pitch is used in a similar manner and refers to a change from full reverse toward full feather whether it occurs in the reverse or the positive pitchregion. As the pitch con- V trol by the coordinatingv control lever 48 and the control rheostatl 50, 68 is now intended primarily for use in the ground handling of airplanes, safety switches 84 and 86 are incorporated in the power supply line for the switch so that neitherthe increase or the decrease pitch solenoids and their valves can normally be actuated in flight. Switch 84 is opened by a cam 104 operatively connected to the vpropeller blades so that whenever the blades are in a forward pitch position above a predetermined amount, say 8 (or slightly higher than 7) the switch will be opened. This angle will preferably be chosen so that it is above the angle at which the usual low pitch stops (see Patent No. 2,477,868), become etective so ,that switch 84 will be closed before further decrease pitch movement of the propeller blades is prevented by'the stops. Actuation of the decrease pitch solenoids will, in the usual manner,lsee application 84,305, provide the increase in pressure necessary to remove the steps. In addition to switch 84, and in series therewith, is a switch 86 which is actuated responsive to Hight support of the airplane. The switch 8 6 maybe attached to a ground contacting assenso lmember such as a landing gear, or a pressure responsive element on a boat, and will be opened whenever the airplane and turbine are iight supported, as when the airplane is in liight or airborne, but will be closed when the airplane is resting on either the land or water. It is apparent that the opening of either of these switches will prevent energization of either the increase or decrease pitch solenoids.

In addition to the features enumerated above, the propeller is provided with the usual featheringmechanism comprising a switch 106 which, when pushed, will energizey a holding coil 103 in series with a timer 110 which will hold the switch closed for a predetermined length of time and then de-energize the coil 108 and openV the switch 106. Closing switch 106 will also energize coil 112, closing switch 114 and energizing feathering pump 44 supplying additional fluid to assist in feathering the propeller particularly as it slows down. Closing the switch 106 will also energize the increase pitch solenoid and actuate the increase pitch valve so as to disable the governor to direct iiuid to the increase pitch side of piston 20. At the expiration of the time determined by the timer 110 switch 106 opens, de-energizing coil 112, opening switch 114 and stopping the feathering pump and also de-energizing the increase pitch solenoid and returning the propeller to governor control. However, when the propeller is feathered, the engine and governor are stopped and hence the propeller remains stationary.

To unfeather the propeller it is necessary to first close switch 116 so that pulling of switch 106 will energize coil 112, closing switch 114 and starting the feathering pump 44 to supply liuid to the non-rotating propeller. The propeller governor being stationary, the flyweights will be in the position shown in Fig. 1 and any fiuid directed to the pilot valve through passage 34 will be directed to the passage 36 and hence to the unfeathering or pitch reducing side of the piston 20.

Lever 118 which is marked the start-run control, when placed in the start or down position, closes switches 116v and 96 and opens switch 72. Closing switch 116 will, as indicated above, complete the circuit for the feathering pump. Closing switch 96 will supply energy to the switch 80, as previously described, and opening switch 72 will remove the ground from the control rheostat wiper 68 leaving resistance 50 grounded through resistance Rb to provide a higher positive Voltage in line 52 than can be supplied by the rheostat alone. For unfeathering, the coordinating control 48 is placed in a position slightly above the operational idle so as to assure opening of switches 60 and 62. With the startrun control 118 in the down position and with the coordinating control just above operationalidle, the unfeather switch 106 is pulled to start the -feathering motor. The governor being stationary and therefore in an underspeed condition will direct fluid to the piston 20 to reduce the propeller pitch. The blade rheostat is effective throughout the entire range of blade pitch from feather to full reverse so that, when feathered, the entire rheostat resistance is in the circuit and produces the maximum positive voltage in line 58. The control rheostat having no ground connectionthrough the wiper 68, the positive voltage in line 52 will be the voltage equivalent to some selected' propeller pitch, say 50,.the control rheostat alone being capable of providing a voltage equivalent only to a small lower pitch such as 7. The positive voltage in line 58 being that equivalent to full feather or 90 and that in line 52 being equivalent to the voltage at, say 50, relay 78 will be energized to close switch 80 onto line 82', but asswitch 60 is open due to the coordinating controlv being positioned above operational idle, the decrease pitch valve will not be energized. As pointed out above, the liuid will be directed by the position of the governor valve due to underspeed condition.

When the propeller reduces its pitch so that the voltage in line SSequals. the voltage in line S2, that is when thebladeV reaches some position such as-50, coil 78 will be de-energized and switch 80 placed in contact with line 94.- Switch 96. being closed by the startrun control, energy will now be supplied to the increase pitch solenoid so as to operate the increase pitch valve, disable the governor and start the propeller towards increase pitch. An increase in pitch will increase the voltage across the blade rheostat and hence in line 58 to again energize coil 78 and move switch 80 into contact with line 82, thus throwing the control back to the governor. The propeller will thus cycle around the selected pitch until the run-start switch is moved into run position Where the governor will take over the entire control. feathering in flight will automatically cause rotation of the propeller and its engine so that the engine may be started by the windmilling action.

As indicated above, the inertia of a turbine is so great that its speed response to throttle opening is much slower than the pitch changingV rate of the propeller. .Upon sudden movementof the coordinating control toa reverse pitch position, it would be quite possible for the propeller to assume the reverse pitch position well before the turbine could increase its speed sufficiently to develop the power required to operate the propeller at the selected reverse pitch. This might causel astall of the turbine engine. Inr order tov preventl such a condition, an auxiliary source of voltage dependent upon speed can be connected through a rectifier or voltage limiting means withV the line $2' so as to schedule the speed and blade angle. or, if desired, provide for constant speeding inreverse at a preselectedor'adjustable speed. As shown-in Fig. 2 which is the same structure as that shown in Fig. 1 with means for providing an additional voltage source at line 52 added, the additional source of voltage may be provided by a reference voltage connected to buck a voltage proportional to speed which maybe produced by a generator 122. The resultant of these bucking voltages is led through a rectifier 124 to the line 52. A` high resistance RL is connected into the lineV 52 between the rectifier 124 and the control rheostat 50 to isolate the coordinating rheostat from the resultant of the bucking voltage when'the rectifier 124 is conducting. VAs shown, rectifier 124-will conduct only when the resultant of the` bucking voltages is more positive than the voltage across the control rheostat.

lt will thus be apparent that if the coordinating control is moved well into the reverse control position, the positive voltage across the rheostat will be verylow and thepropeller will attempt to assume a reverse pitch position. lf the speed of theturbine is low, generator 122 will develop only a small amount of voltage to buck the reference voltage 120 so that the reference voltage which is a positive voltage will predominate causing rectilier 124 to conduct and impress a positive voltage on line S2 and thus prevent the'propeller pitch from decreasing (i. e..increasing negative pitch) to a point where the turbine could not maintain speed. As the turbine gathers speed the negative voltage of the generator 122 will increase cutting down the effective positive voltage of the reference 120 and allowing the blade pitch to reduce. lt is thus obvious that the pitch and the, speed may be scheduled. it will be possible by choosing the proper components for the reference voltage and the voltage responsive to speed and the blade rheostat voltage to provide for an equilibrium point in the reverse pitch range at which the reference and the R. P. M. voltages will govern at a substantially constant speed irrespective of the position of the coordinating control over a limited range.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have provided a control by which a propeller may be feathered or unfeathered in. flightwand may be controlled at constant speedin. flight. InI unfeathering the propeller It should be noted in passing that un? may be made to cycle aboutany preselected pitch position until,it.is desired` to ',turnthe` propeller over to governor control. In addition `I have provided a control by which the propeller may be reversed and in reversing will disable the governor and position the propeller at any,y desired pitch setting from approximately `plus 7 to the full reverse pitch position. I have additionally provided means by which thepropeller may be positioned in accordance with speed in the reverse pitch range either for preventing stall while being reversed or for running the engine at a constantf speed in reverse at diierent throttle settings.

Although only one embodiment has been shown and Y described herein, it will be apparent that various `changes and modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of the various parts without departing from the scope of this novel concept.

What it is desired to obtain byLetters Patent is:

l. A propeller control for a propeller having adjustable pitch blades and having a governing range and a reverse pitch range and pitch changing means for moving the blades through said ranges comprising in combinationpa speed governor forautomatically controlling the propeller speed vby the blade pitch in the governing range,` pitch increasing means connected with said governor` for disabling said governor and increasing the propeller pitch and pitch decreasing means connected with said governor Vand decreasing the propeller pitch, means for controlling the propeller in reverse pitch including a first signal producing means and means connected with said blades for varying said signal in accordance with the position of said blades, manually actuated pitch selectingV means, a second signal producing means and means connected with Vthe pitch selecting means for varying said second signal in accordance with the position of said pitch selecting means, means for comparing the two signals and producing a resulting signal, means `responsiveto the resulting signal for selectively operating said pitch increasing or pitch decreasing means, to changethe blade signal and make the other signal predominate, whereby the blade pitch will continuously cycle about a pitch selected by said pitch selecting means.

2. In a propeller control for a propeller having adjustable pitch blades and a constant speed range and a reverse pitch range and means for moving said blades through said constant speed range and said reverse pitch range, a speed governor controlling the pitch of said blades in the constant speed range, pitch increasing means connected with said governor for disabling said governor i control and actuating saidblade moving means for increasing the propeller pitch and pitch decreasing means connected with said governor for disabling said governor control and actuating said blade moving means for decreasing the propeller pitch, means rfor controlling'the propeller r in reverse pitch comprising manually actuated signal varying means, blade actuated signal varying means, means connected with both signal varying means for comparing the two signals and producing a signal corresponding to the predominant one of Vthe two compared signals, means connected with the output of said comparing means for actuating said pitch increasing or said pitch decreasing means in accordance with the outputof said comparing means.

`3. Control means for an hydraulically actuated controllable pitch propeller having adjustable pitch blades,

hydraulically actuated pitch changing mechanism, a gov- Y Vernor having a pilot valve controlling the owk of hydraulic iluid to and from said pitch changing mechanism, and pitch increase and pitch decrease valves vfor disabling the governor byl directing iluid to move said pilot valve to one extreme position or the other to thereby direct tluid to said pitch changing `mechanism and movek said blade `toward increase .or decrease pitch position, comprising in combination, a source of electrical energy, a rheostat operativelyconnected with said blades for move- -8 Y ment therewith and connected with said source for providing an electrical signal variable with the blade position, pitch control means, a rheostat` operatively connected with' said pitch control means for movement therewith and connected with said source for providing an electrical signal variable with the position of said control means, signalV comparing means connectedwith both of said rheostats for receiving and comparing said signals and providing an output signal dependent upon which of the compared signals is the greater, switching means connected with the output of said comparing means and operable by said output signal, means including said switching means operatively connecting said energy source and said pitch increase and pitch decrease valves for selectively operating said valves in accordance with said switch position.

4. Control meansior an engine driven propeller having adjustable pitch blades and pitch changing means comprising in combination, a speed governor connected with the pitch changing means for changing the blade pitch to control engine speed, means for disabling said governor and increasing the blade pitch and means for disablingA said governor and decreasing the blade pitch, a manually actuated engine fuel control, means independent of said fuel control for selecting the governor speed setting, a'tirst signal producing means and means connected with said blades for varying said signal in accordance with the position of the blades, a second signal producing means and means connected with said control for varying said second signal in accordance with the position of said engine control, means for comparing the two signals, means connecting said comparing means with said pitch increasing and pitch decreasing means including means responsive to the predominating signal of the compared signals for selectively operating said pitch increasing or pitch decreasing means, disabling said governor and changing the blade pitch to change the blade signal and make the other signal predominant whereby the blade pitch will cycle about a pitch selected by the engine control means. A

5. Control means as claimed in claim 4 having means actuated by-saidengine control for controlling said connecting means and including a switch in said connecting means for disabling at least a portion of said connecting means when the engine control is above a selected position.

Control means as claimed in claim 4 including a source of power for said pitch increasing and pitch decreasing means and a blade actuated switch connecting said source and said last mentioned means.

7. In combination, an engine control adapted to vary fuel ow to an engine, a propeller control for a propeller, driven by said engine, and having a feathering range, a governing range and a reverse pitch range, said propeller control comprising a governor for controlling the blade pitch in the governing range and an increase pitch valve and a decrease pitch valve for controlling the blade pitch in the feathering and reverse ranges, means for controlling said valves in the reverse range comprising means providing a voltage varying in accordance with engine control position, means providing a voltage varying in accordance with blade position, means comparing said voltages and providing a resultant voltage, means actuated by said resultant voltage to selectively actuate said valves and position said blades-in accordance with said control position, means automatically substituting a voltage responsive to speed for said engine control ,positionvoltage tolimitpitch reduction in reverse under voltage fromsaid comparing means actuates said increase pitch valve.

8. A control as claimed in claim 4 in which the-propeller has a forward pitch range and a reverse pitch range and the engine control has an operational idle position and the pitch increasing andl pitch decreasing means are electrically controlled, a switch connected with the decrease pitch control and a switch forming a part of the secondsignalr producing means and means connecting said manual engine control with said switches for opening said switches when the manual control passes the operational idle position in the increasing fuel and pitch direction to thereby disable propeller pitch control by said manual engine control.

9. A control for an adjustable pitch propeller comprising, in combination, a governor operatively connected with said propeller for changing its pitch in accordance with speed, means for unfeathering said propeller in ight to a preselected pitch position including a source of power and means connecting said source of power with said governor, said governor directing said power to reduce the propeller pitch, electrically actuated means for disabling the governor and increasing the propeller pitch, means for establishing a xed-reference voltage, a source of voltage, voltage varying means connected with said source and actuated by movement of said blades for varying voltage from said source in accordance with blade position, means for comparingf said reference voltage with said variable voltage and creating an output signal in accordance with the relative values of said compared voltages, switch means actuated by the-output of said voltage comparing means for energizing said governor disabling and pitch increasing means when the propeller blades pass a predetermined' pitch position in the pitch reducing direction and for restoring control to Asaid governor when theV blades pass said position in the pitch increasing direction.

l0. A device as claimed in claim 9 in which the propeller pitch is adjusted by hydraulically actuated means and the governor has a pilot valve which controls the ow of hydraulic `fluid to and from said propeller and the means for disabling the governor includes an electrically actuated valve for directing uid to move the governor pilot valve to an extreme position.

1l. In combination, an engine control adapted to vary the fuel dow to an engine and having an operational idle position, a propeller controlrfor av propeller having a governing range andy a reverse pitch range, saidr propeller control for the reverse pitch range comprising an increase pitch valve, and a decreaseV pitch valve, a voltage source, voltage varying means operatively connected with said source and said engine control to provide a voltage varying in accordance with said engine control position, voltage varying means operatively connected with said voltage source and the propeller blades to provide atvoltage varying in accordance with the propeller blade position, means for comparing the voltages provided by said voltage varying means, means responsive to a preponderance of one voltage over the other for selectively energizing either the increase pitch valve or the decrease pitch valve to change the blade pitch and eliminate the voltage difference and position the blades in accordance with engine control position, and means actuated by said engine control disabling said voltage responsive means when said engine control is above operational idle position.

l2. A propeller control, for a propeller having adjustable pitch blades and means for moving said blades to increase and decrease their pitch, comprising means connected with said blades for producing a signal proportional to the pitch position of said blades, manually actuated pitch control mechanism, means connected with said control mechanism for producing a signal proportional to the position of said control mechanism, signal comparing means connected with both said signal producing means, for providing a resultant signalV dependent upon the preponderance of one of said proportional. signals Y over 'the other, control means for said blade moving means,

a source of electrical power, means controlled by said resultant signal selectively directing said power to said control means orincreasing or decreasing the blade pitch, a blade actuated switch located between said source of power and said control means to disable control of said blade moving control means by said resultant signal when the `blades are above a preselected pitch position.

BfA-propeller control for a propeller having adinstable pitch blades and having a governing rangeand a reverse pitch range and pitch changing `means for moving the blades through said ranges comprising in combination, a governor for controlling the blade pitch in the governing range, pitch increasing means connected with said governor for disabling said governor and increasing the propeller pitch, and pitch decreasing means connected with said governor and decreasing' the propeller pitch, means for controlling the propeller in reverse pitch including a source of voltage and a rheostat operably connected with said blades for varying the voltage to produce a rst signal varying in accordance with blade position, manually actuated pitch selecting means, a rheo- Vstat connected with the pitch selecting means and said source for varying the voltage to produce a second signal varying in accordance with the position of the pitch selectingmeans, means for comparing the two signals and producing. a resultant signal, means responsive to the resulting signal for selectively operating said pitch increasingV and said pitch decreasing means to change the blade signal and make the other signal predominate.

14. A propeller control for apropeller having adjustable pitch blades and having a governing range and a reverse pitch range and pitch changing means for moving the blades through said ranges comprising in combination a governor for controlling the blade pitch in the poverning range, pitch increasing means including electricaly actuated mechanism connected with said governor for disabling said governor and increasing the propeller pitch and pitch decreasing means including electrically actuated mechanism connected with said governor and decreasing the propeller pitch, means for controlling the propeller in reverse pitch including a first signal producing means, and means connected with said blades for varying said signal in accordancewith the position of said blades, manually actuated pitch selecting means, a secondsignal producing means and means connected with the pitch selecting means for varying said second signal in accordance with the position of said pitch selecting means, means for comparing the two signals and producing a resultant signal, means responsive to the resultant signalfor selectively operating said pitch increasing or pitch decreasing means, to change the blade signal and make the other signal predominate, a switch forming a part of the circuit for said electrically actuated mechanisms, means moveable in response to movement of the blades into the governing range from the reverse pitch range and means connecting said switch with said last mentioned means for opening said switch and disabling control byV said pitch selecting means.

l5. A propeller control for a propeller having adjustable pitch blades and having a governing range and a reverse pitch range and pitch changing means for moving the blades through said ranges comprising in combination a speed governor for automatically controlling the propeller speed by controllingy the blade pitch in the governingk range, pitch increasing means connected with said governor for disabling said governor and increasing the propeller pitch and pitch decreasing means connected with said governor and'decreasing Vthe propeller pitch, means for controlling the propeller in' reverse pitch including a first signal producing means and means connected with said blades for varying said signal in accordance with the position of said blades, manually actuated pitch selecting` means, a second signal producing means and means connected with pitch selecting means for. varying said second signal in accordance with the position of. said pitch selecting means, means for comparing the two signals and producing a resultant signal'means responsive to the resulting signal for selectivelyoperating said pitch increasing or pitch decreasing means to change the blade signal and make the other signal predominate, means producing asignal varying with speed, signal limiting means connecting said speed signal with said pitch selecting signal to modify control of the angle by said pitch selecting means.

16. A` propeller control for a propeller having adjustable pitch ,blades and having a governing range and a reverse pitch range and pitch changing means for moving the blades through said ranges comprising in combination a speed governor for automatically controlling the propeller speed by controlling the blade pitch in the governing range, pitch increasing means connected with said governor for disabling said governor and increasing the propeller pitch and pitch decreasing means connected with said governor and decreasing the propeller pitch, means for controlling the propeller in reverse pitch including a first signal producing means and means connected with said blades for varying said signal in accordance with the position of said blades, maually actuated pitch selecting means, a second signal producing means and means connected with the pitch selecting means forV signal when said speed responsive signal is greater than the signal from said second signal producing means and block said Vspeed responsive signal when it is less than said second signal. l

17. Means for controlling a turbine driven Vpropeller having propeller blades comprising, a manually actuated turbine fuel control, a separate propeller pitch control means including means responsive to a turbine operating parameter, propeller blade positioning means, including means responsive to blade position and comparing the position of said blade with the position of said fuel control and means operatively connected with said comparing means and selectively actuating said separate pitch control means to move said blade to a position corresponding to the position of said fuel control, one portion of said comparing means being operable by said turbine fuel control to select the propeller blade pitch, means independent of said comparing means and operable by said turbine fuel control for disabling said blade positioning means as said turbine fuel control passes a preselected position and means, independent of said `comparing means, operable by a propeller blade for disabling said positioning means above apreselected blade position.

18. Means for controlling'in reverse pitch an engine driven aircraft supported controllable pitch propeller having jpr'opeller` blades comprisingl a manually actuated engine control having a forward position and having a reverse position controlling the engine fuel when the propeller is in reverse pitch, a separate pitch control means including means responsive to an engine operating parameter, and propeller blade positioning means actuated by said engine control for positioning said blades in reverse pitch when the engine control is in reverse pitch, said positioning means including means comparing the position of said blade with the position of said engine control and means, connected vwith said comparingmeans, selectively biasing said pitch control means to move said blade to a position corresponding to the position of said engine control means, independent" of said comparing means, for disabling saidblade positioning means responsive to flight support of said aircraft and means independent of said comparing means for disabling said bladeV positioning means as the engine control is moved past a predetermined position toward forward position means independent of said comparing means for disabling said blade positioning means as the propeller blade is moved past a predetermined pitch position toward a, positive pitch position.

19. A control for a propeller having adjustable pitch blades and having a govering range and a feathered position, comprising in combination, a speed governor, including power directing means, operatively connected with saidpropeller for changing its pitch in the governing vand unfeathering range in accordance with changes in speed, means connected to said power directing means for disabling said governor and positioning said power directing means independent of speed and increasing the propeller pitch, including means for feathering said propeller, means for unfeathering said propeller including a source ofV power independent of propeller rotation and means connecting said source of power with said power directing means for directing said power to reduce the propeller pitch while under governor control and means connected with said propeller blade for activating said positioning `means to increase the propeller pitch when the propeller blade'passes, in a pitch reducing direction, a predetermined pitch position in the governing range to prevent movement beyond said predetermined position. 20. A control for an adjustable pitch propeller comprising, in combination, a speed governor, including power directing means responsive to speed during unfeathering operatively connected with said propeller for changing its pitch in accordance with changes in speed during unfeathering. means for unfeathering said propeller including a source of power independent of propeller rotation and means connecting said source of power with said power directing means for directing said power to reduce the propeller pitch while under governor control, electrically actuated means connected to said power directing means for disabling said governor and increasingthe propeller pitch by positioning said power directing means independent of speed, electrical means connected with said propeller blade for actuating said positioning means and increasing the propeller pitch, said electrical means including means actuated responsive to movement of the propeller blade past a predetermined position in its pitch reducing movement for energizing said electrically actuated means and responsive' to movement past said position in a pitch increasing direction to restore speed responsive control to said power directing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent Y UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,155,586 Ebert Apr. 25, 1939 2,402,065 Martin lune l1, 1946 2,410,659 Hoover Nov. 5, 1946 2,513,660 Martin et al. July 4, 1950 2,517,150 Webb Aug. 1, 1950 2,600,017 Morris et al lune 10, 1952 2,612,225 Sparrow Sept. 30, 1952 2,632,516 Longfellow Mar. 24, 1953 2,635,699 Richmond et al. Apr. 21, 1953 2,640,550 Knapp etal. .lune 2, 1953 2,643,077 Martin et al. V June 23, 1953 2,653,668 Anderson Sept. 29, 1953 2,737,252 Knapp et al. Mar. 6, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS v 642,957 Great Britain Sept. 13, 1950 

